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NFL Monday nighter off radar in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS—The televised spectacle that is Monday Night Football once meant a packed stadium, an enthralled home audience and the sporting nation’s undivided attention.

Not in St. Louis, and particularly not this Monday, when the near-dynastic St. Louis Cardinals can anticipate a red army at Busch Stadium for Game 5 of the World Series.

Expect to see thousands of empty seats at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on Monday night, when the Rams host the Seahawks, while Game 5 of the World Series plays out eight blocks away. (Charlie Riedel / The Associated Press File)

Eight blocks away at the antiseptic Edward Jones Dome — an indoor stadium attached to the city’s convention centre that the St. Louis Rams say falls far below their needs — the prime-time matchup between the struggling Rams and the Seattle Seahawks will likely feature thousands of empty seats.

The Rams’ average home attendance of 55,395 this season is second-worst in the 32-team NFL, ahead of only the Oakland Raiders. On Friday, upper-level tickets could be bought online for as little as $7.

Pro football may have a firm foothold as America’s game, but in these baseball-mad parts, the NFL is decidedly second fiddle. And with the Rams’ lease set to expire next year and the stadium authority’s rejecting a $700 million upgrade sought by the team, fans are girded for the possibility of a second NFL exodus in 30 years. The football St. Louis Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1987, and the city went nearly a decade without a franchise until the Los Angeles Rams arrived in 1995.

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“Clearly, the Rams have been terrible and the Cards have been astonishingly good,” said Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay. Rainford said from 2007 through 2011, the Rams compiled the worst five-year record in NFL history, including a one-win season in 2009 and two-win seasons in 2008 and 2011. That 2000 Super Bowl win is a distant memory.

The Cardinals, by contrast, have been a study in consistent excellence, with World Series titles in 2006 and 2011 and playoff appearances in 10 of the past 14 seasons. The team drew nearly 3.4 million fans to Busch Stadium this season, averaging 41,602, the second highest in the MLB. It was the 10th straight season where attendance topped 3 million, and the 17th time in franchise history.

Meanwhile, fan interest in the Rams wanes as their on-field performance and long-term future is shaky. Season attendance declined from 522,608 in 2006 to 396,925 last year, an average of 49,615 in the 66,000-seat dome.

Apathy has grown so strong that the Greater St. Louis Quarterback Club quietly dissolved several years ago.

“I’m the only person left right now,” club secretary Kathy Danielsen said. “The Rams haven’t been good for so long, I guess they figured, what’s the use?”

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